The present invention refers to a frame and a packing and handling system of glass sheets or similar materials, which can be located on the platform of a loading transport truck, and more particularly, to a frame and a packing and handling system of glass sheet packages.
At present, several frames for the transportation of large sheets of glass are known. These frames are placed on the platform of freight trucks for transporting articles from one place to another. One of the best know frame is made out of a wooden base (called a xe2x80x9cwooden bed framexe2x80x9d) which is tightly set over the freight truck platform. In this case particular, the glass sheets are loaded towards, and in coincidence with the platform by means of a pair of operators, who first need to lift the end of the glass sheet to place it over the frame""s shock absorbing mattress, over which is placed the end of the glass sheet, and later, said glass sheet is pushed into a vertical position until it is leaning over the first wall of the frame (the wooden bed frame) which leans at approximately 120xc2x0 with respect to the horizontal line of the platform. This operation is repeated several times until a many glass sheets are leaning on each side of the frame.
Once that several glass sheets have been piled over the frame of the freight truck, they are covered with canvass, and later, they are secured with cables for their transportation.
An example of the frames used for transporting large glass sheets is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,175 issued to Archie A. Jackson. In this case, the frame is fixed and is placed laterally over a freight transport truck, which considers the floor level as a factor for loading and unloading the glass sheets.
Another form of transporting glass sheets is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,939 issued to Kent A. Bailey, which shows a removable supporting frame which can be easily coupled to the back end of the frame of a freight truck. A plurality of pipes that contain a plurality of hooks on an end are used to connect the supporting removable frame onto the truck""s frame.
However, the previously described loading systems are useful for delivering glass sheets within a small geographic area, wherein the glass sheets can be handled individually.
Notwithstanding the above, when large quantities of glass sheets need to be sent to places that are further away, the glass sheets must be packed in wooden packages for their easy transport. The stated wooden packages are placed over a set frame that is in the rear of the transport trucks (for their transportation) and, later, once that they arrive to their destiny and they are unloaded one by one, for their storage in warehouses.
However, one of the disadvantages of the handling of glass sheets is when they have to be transported by railroad or via a waterway or to other ports or countries. i.e., the trucks with the glass sheet packages arrive to the railroad stations or the maritime ports, where they are unloaded one by one to be placed in the railroad boxcars or in the storage bins of boats.
Through this procedure, the loading and unloading of the glass sheets packages is time-consuming, and therefore the handling costs rise. This same procedure is repeated when the packages arrive in another station or port, where a truck with a platform must be available for the unloading and reloading of the glass sheets.
In order to save time and consequently reduce handling and transportation costs of large glass sheets, the inventors of the present invention designed a packing frame and a system for transporting large sheets of glass or similar materials which are transported together with the glass sheets, thus facilitating their packing and handling.
Said removable frame that goes on the back end of the truck, which facilitates loading, for transporting and unloading of the glass sheets. This frame is placed over the platform of a freight truck, which is fastened onto the truck platform itself for transportation. Once the freight truck arrives to its destiny, the frame, together with the glass sheet packages is lifted by means of a crane, to facilitate the loading and unloading of the glass sheets onto the railroad boxes, or into the storage area of boats.
The packing and handling system for glass sheets, includes two supporting sections and at least two structural profiles, said structural profiles being in coincidence with the upper part of a first distance of reference A, and are separated one from the other in the lower part at a second distance of reference B; at least one reinforced bar is located transversally between the structural profiles in order to reinforce the transversal supporting section formed by said structural profiles; a third supporting profile, horizontally connected to the lower part of said structural profiles, said third supporting profile having a first lower supporting section to a first side of the frame formed by the structural profiles that goes beyond the limit which is formed by said profile frames and a second supporting section on a second side of said frame formed by the structural profiles, opposite to the first side, also goes beyond the limit that forms the frame made by said structural profiles, said first and second supporting frame being used for loading a series of packages of glass sheets; at least one first post for each one of the structural profiles, each one of the posts of each structural profile is located in the upper part in a position of one below the other; second posts are coupled over the supporting profile, which are separated one from the other, by a distance that is greater than or equal to the B separation distance that is established for the structural profiles; and, third posts are located over the profile of support, at a third distance of reference C, said third posts being aligned horizontally with respect to the second posts of said supporting profile, wherein each one of the supporting sections are located in a relation one front of the other and are joined by crossing members for the assembly of a supporting frame; a first plurality of fastening bands are extended over the first and second series of the packages containing sheets of glass, each being hooked to the first, second, and third posts, and over the edges of the glass sheets, thus holding a series of individual glass sheet packages to each of the sides of the supporting frame.
Therefore, it is a first objective of the present invention to provide a frame and a packing system for handling large sheets of glass, which facilitates their handling and transportation.
An additional objective of the present invention is to provide a frame and a system for packing and handling of packages for large sheets of glass or similar materials that are easy to place and remove from a freight truck, a boat or railroad platforms.
An additional objective of the present invention is to provide a frame and a packing and handling system of glass sheets which can be adjusted to the different dimensions of the packages that contain the sheets of glass.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a frame and a packing and handling system of glass packages which can be assembled and disassembled at the time of glass sheet loading and unloading occupying a minimum space when the loading and unloading frame is returned to its place of origin.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a frame and a packing and handling system of glass sheet packages, which reduce the time it takes to tie the glass sheets and which, in addition, provide a greater safety during their transportation.
These and other objectives and additional advantages of the present invention will be made evident to experts in the field in the following detailed description of the invention, which will make reference to two specific embodiments of the invention in an illustrative, but not limiting, sense.